


Mistakenly Magical

by Ano



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Magical Girls, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29719713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ano/pseuds/Ano
Summary: Rose was not exactly ecstatic about these newfound powers of hers. How does a high school senior balance preparing for college with fighting terrifyingly strong enemies? And how exactly does she keep it secret from her best friend?
Relationships: Alisha Diphda & Sorey, Dezel & Rose (Tales of Zestiria), Dezel/Rose (Tales of Zestiria), Mikleo/Sorey (Tales of Zestiria), Rose & Sorey (Tales of Zestiria), Rose & Zaveid (Tales of Zestiria)
Kudos: 8





	Mistakenly Magical

**Author's Note:**

> I worry this story is going to end up being an unnecessarily long saga, so please have patience. This stupid concept has been in my head for about a year. I hope you enjoy.

Everything hurt.

Stumbling down the rapidly darkening hallways, Rose clutched her side, contemplating how stupidly large the building was. Behind her, she heard the sharp cackle of the man pursuing her, and it took all she had to bite back the fearful whimper that tried to escape. She rounded the corner and-

“I must say, I like a girl who plays hard to get.”

Rose let out an involuntary shriek, falling backwards onto the ground and flinching as pain lanced through her definitely broken ribs. The man, if she could call him that, stood before her with a too-wide grin, his face looking distorted and uncanny, more animalistic than human. He leered down at her through sandy blonde bangs as he stood all too casually for someone who should not have been able to get ahead of her.

“I already gave you a chance to be cooperative, but you squandered my good graces. I know you have it. Hand it over, and I’ll finish you off quickly.”

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Her voice cracked as she yelled.

The man’s smile slipped from his face, warping into a sneer. In an instant, his hand was around her throat, lifting her into the air and aligning her gaze with his. He squeezed. Hard. “Don’t lie to me, brat. I tried playing nice. You have nobody to blame but yourself.”

Rose saw white.

It was blinding, yet radiated a comfort like nothing she had ever experienced before. She felt weightless; any pain she had been feeling before seemed to dissolve away.

For a moment, she was certain that she had died.

Then all at once, strength seemed to bloom from within her.  
The light faded and she found herself free from his grip. Her feet softly touched solid ground again, and in the back of her mind she realized that the floating sensation she had felt was apparently quite literal. Looking down, she realized her tattered clothes had been replaced with something white and green and gaudy, and her once red hair was now a soft white-blonde.

That’s around when she started screaming.

-

“...Rose…”

Somewhere the distance, she could hear a voice calling to her, albeit just barely. She couldn’t seem to pinpoint it. All she knew right now was the soft warmth of the sun on her back. She wanted to slip back into her slumber, but she heard the voice again:

“Rose”

It seemed closer this time, almost in front of her, and then she felt a touch, light and delicate on her cheek. They trailed down slowly and she shivered, tilting her head to seek their warmth as they traced her face, running over the bridge of her nose and then went lower.

All at once the digits clamped down to seal her nostrils shut and she gasped, snorting loudly. Her eyes snapped open in panic as her head ripped away from the offending digits, limbs flailing as her body attempted to get its bearings. She was vaguely aware of laughter, and as her eyes came into focus, she came to the grim realization that she was seated at her desk, where she had apparently fallen asleep earlier that day.

Cheeks reddening, her head darted to the front of the classroom, only to find it lacking the irritable teacher she had anticipated to be glaring her way. Many of the other desks were empty as well, she quickly realized, save for a few students chatting, and the two seated directly in front of her. Their names were Sorey and Dezel, and she was going to kill them both.

Sorey sat in the seat to her right, watching her closely. He was dressed in his usual school uniform, with neatly pressed dark-grey slacks and navy blue blazer. His soft green eyes looked apologetic and concerned, but his lips were clearly pursed and twitching in an attempt to hold in his laughter. 

“Wow, you were seriously asleep, Rose,” Sorey’s voice hitched as a laugh escaped. “What happened?”

“Probably up late gaming,” Dezel offered as he shifted his chair around to a more comfortable position. He seemed to sit in contrast to Sorey, larger with sharper features than her boyish friend, tanned skin and startlingly white shaggy hair. His uniform was unbuttoned and the standard black tie was completely missing. Sliding his butt forward in the chair, he stretched, sticking his legs out into the aisle. 

“I was not gaming,” Rose protested, reaching up to rub her still heavy eyes, “ugh, crap, did I seriously sleep through the entire lesson? Where’s the teacher? I thought he’d have torn me a new one.”

Sorey gave a hesitant smile. “That’s actually why i’m here...”

To her left, Dezel snickered, and Rose’s eyes narrowed. 

“Sorey?” The tone was accusatory.

There was a soft knock at the entrance to the class, and the two glanced over to see a slender young blonde woman leaning against the frame, looking stern and expectant. Rose recognized her as the student council president: Alisha Diphda. Sorey gave a wave to her and stood as he turned back to Rose, hurriedly moving backwards to the door as he spoke: "Mr. Strelka didn't want to wait, so I’ve been asked to let you know once you woke up that he expects to see you in his office for detention.”

“Sorey! How could you betray me like this?” Her voice rose as he reached the door. Sorey stopped at the entrance and gave one last wave before disappearing around the corner with Alisha.

“Good luck!”

“You jerk!” Rose wailed after him, startling some of the still lingering classmates, “See if I bring you pastries from Eguille’s ever again!”

All at once, she deflated, letting herself slump across her desk with a long, drawn out groan. She soon heard a small huff and the scrape of the desk chair in front of her as Dezel stood. Rose craned her neck to find him regarding her from above.

“I can wait for you,” he offered quietly, and Rose couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I thought you didn’t have your club tonight.” 

“I don’t,” he admitted with one of his usual indifferent shrugs, “but there’s a tournament coming up, and I don’t think Brad would be too pleased to hear you walked home alone late at night.”

Rose laughed, finally pushing herself off of the desk and gathering her belongings. “Oh come on, Dezel. You and I both know that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You don’t need to listen to my old man...” 

She trailed off as she watched him, her smile twisting into something a little more sly. “Unless that’s not why you want to wait,” she paused for dramatic effect, watching him finally tense up.

“Dezel,” she purred, “are you actually falling in love- ow!” 

Dezel’s hand retreated from where he had abruptly flicked her forehead. “Like I’d fall for a girl who drools all over her desk,” he sneered as he made his way to the door. “Stop by the range when you’re done.”

Bristling, Rose swept her belongings into her open bag and fussed with pulling the zipper shut as she stomped after him.

“I did not drool!”

-

By the time she was released from her punishment, the sun had started to set, basking the campus in an amber glow. By this point, most clubs had adjourned, and the last groups of students were making their way home. Rose quietly trudged towards the archery grounds, rolling her shoulders to try and loosen her tired muscles. Mr. Strelka was a new teacher, apparently only in his mid-twenties, which surprised people, as with his rigid demeanor and crisp shirts, one would have guessed he was some sort of military veteran. As most new teachers were, he was a tad bit of a stickler for the rules. It resulted in him and Rose being at odds from time to time, as he was a man who followed the letter of the law. Today was no exception; he had put her to work reorganizing and cataloguing textbooks in his office, which was a far more physically demanding task than it had any right to be. Despite the dorky sweater vest and even dorkier personality, Strelka was strikingly large, and Rose honestly doubted the man knew his own strength. 

“Apologies, I didn’t realize how late it got,” Mr. Strelka said after giving the nearby clock a double-take. “Do you have someone to go home with? If not, I will send you home myself.” 

Rose shook her head, “It’s okay, Dezel’s actually waiting for me.”

Her teacher nodded, seeming satisfied with her choice of escort. “Alright then, please be careful.” 

She quickly made her way out onto the darkening school grounds, across the grass toward the archery range. As she approached, she could hear the familiar sound of an arrow striking its target echoing across the campus. Rose picked up her pace, only slowing as she caught sight of Dezel on the far end of the kyudo range, going through the motions of notching another arrow. He had changed out of his usual school uniform and into the standard hakama worn by the club’s members, and he had pulled his shaggy tresses out of his face with an elastic and headband, which revealed his striking green eyes that narrowed in concentration as he raised his arms and drew the bow taut. 

Dezel had taken to kyudo in their first year of high school, and much to his, and everyone else’s surprise, he was exceptionally good at it. When holding a bow, everything about him seemed to become more proper and regal; a far cry from his usual jerk self. He had once tried to explain to Rose how archery felt so natural to him, stumbling over words until finally trying to describe how he could almost read the wind. Rose had laughed at him then, and he got mad in turn and they ended up kicking the crap out of each other. 

Rose watched from the sidelines as he loosed his last arrow, quietly admitting to herself that nowadays, she could probably believe what he had said all those years back. He’d become their club’s ace so to speak. Maybe the correct word was ‘prodigy’, but that word was strictly reserved for teasing him.

She would also never admit to him that she thought he looked really good in his kyudo uniform.

Dezel took a moment to admire his work before seeming to catch sight of her in his periphery and turning to nod in greeting. 

“Just give me a few minutes to clean up.”

Rose gave him a small wave as he moved to gather his arrows from across the field. She decided to wait just outside the entrance; the sun started to set at this point, and the sky readily darkened to a deep purple as the oranges and reds seeped away behind the horizon. Rose took the time to fiddle on her phone, sending a few messages here and there.

Dezel exited the club building not long afterwards, back in his uniform and hooded jacket. His hair was back down, though it had yet to fully settle, as evidenced by his attempts to comb his fingers through it. Rose quickly pocketed her phone after shooting one last text, and the two set off at a leisurely pace side by side, simply appreciating the quiet for a long moment.

Rose decided to break the silence first. “So, are you excited for your trip?” 

Dezel gave her a sidelong glance, “you mean the tournament?”

“I mean, will it really be a tournament with how well you shoot, mister kyudo prodigy?” Rose nudged his arm with her elbow and grinned as she caught sight of his ears turning a soft shade of red. "I'm jealous, there's so much good food in Zekson, not to mention the sea..." 

Dezel snorted as he turned to watch the road, "do you seriously think I'll have time to sightsee? We're competing, not on a field trip."

Rose made a face, clearly not believing him, watching her friend shrug in response and adjusting his bags on his back.

"So," Dezel nudged Rose with his elbow, "you going to tell me what actually kept you up?"

Rose looked over to see Dezel giving her a pointed look through his shaggy mane. "It's not like you to fall asleep in class without at least being discreet about it. You seriously crashed."

Despite the lopsided smirk that came with his comment, his voice had a tinge of concern to it. She had to admit, Dezel knew her too well at times, and she should have guessed that he’d know something was up 

“It’s honestly nothing. I think I just had one of those weird dreams that felt super real.” Rose waved a dismissive hand in Dezel’s direction. “It was so stupid, I didn’t really want to bring it up.”

“Rose?”

He was still watching her, and she gave a nervous laugh as she tucked a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. “Alright, I suppose you can try to parse my weird dumb dream.” She grinned as Dezel let out a huff, and so she began:

“Alright, so I guess there was some sort of loud noise outside last night. I think maybe some sort of animal electrocuted itself on a nearby transformer or something? That’s at least what I’m guessing. You know the school nurse?”

“You mean Lailah?” Dezel questioned back. Rose's eyebrows shot up at this; nurse Lailah was, after all, an infamously beautiful woman, making the infirmary a popular place.

“Oho, you’re on a first name basis? You dog, you.” Rose gave Dezel an approving nudge with her elbow, watching his tanned skin once again flush in embarrassment.

“I’m on a sports team, idiot. I get injured sometimes. Now get on with the story!”

“Alright, fine,” she crossed her arms, pouting in jest. “Okay, so yeah, the nurse. Lailah. I’m seeing her outside my window, standing on the power lines! And not only that, she’s in this fancy ball gown looking thing, and she’s fighting some sort of fox man!”

Rose dared to glance over, and as she suspected, Dezel was looking at her like she’d sprouted a second head. 

“You really are playing too many video games.” This warranted Dezel a much more aggressive elbow in the ribs from Rose. “So what… did anything else happen?”

Rose mused thoughtfully at this, “I don’t really know, I think my dream-fight carried them out of view.” 

Dezel hummed at this. By this point, they had reached Rose's apartment, the sun now completely below the horizon and the streetlights had flickered to life. The two stopped at the entranceway and lingered outside for a moment as Rose searched the mess of her bag for her keys. 

“Thanks for walking me back, care to come inside for a minute before Zaveid gets here?” 

Dezel’s expression was quick to scrunch up in displeasure. “No need to call him, I can walk...” addhe trailed off, stopping as his eyes trained on the smirk that curled across her mouth. His brows came together. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, I did.” Rose grinned wickedly as she raised her phone, showing him her chat log. “You see, we can’t have the archery club’s ace walking home alone, and so I thought it best to text your cousin ahead of time to give you a lift” 

Dezel paled, his wide green eyes darting between her phone and her face, which felt like it was going to split from grinning so widely. 

“You little shit," he bit out, "you just want to see his stupid car!"

“He’ll be here in 5 minutes.”

=

Fifteen minutes later, Rose waved after the sports car that faded into the distance. Like clockwork, Dezel’s cousin Zaveid appeared in the Corrundum Lore convertible that Rose loved so much. The older man had stepped out, dressed as if he was about to head out for a night on the town, and made pleasant small talk, much to Dezel’s apparent frustration. Soon enough, they were on their way. Dezel had never seemed all that fond of Zaveid, though Rose couldn’t really understand why. Sure, he was a little goofy and cocky at times, but he didn’t come off as unbearable as Dezel claimed. In fact, whenever Rose tried to get him to elaborate, he was extremely quick to change the subject. 

He was definitely going to get back at her.

Retreating into the empty apartment, Rose grabbed some leftovers and made her way to her room. Her dad wouldn’t be home until much later, and she at least wanted to make some half-assed attempt at her homework before going to sleep. She was still quite tired after… well, whatever it was that happened the night before. 

Ten minutes of staring at her assignment and she let out a huff, throwing her head over the back of her chair and staring at the ceiling with tired eyes. Rose groaned in frustration, digging the heels of her palms into her eye sockets, desperate to rub the sleep away. Eventually her palms dragged down her cheeks and her gaze settled on her desk drawer. Pausing thoughtfully, she reached out, pulling it open and fishing around through its contents, shoving aside loose photographs and pens until her hand settled on something cold and hard. She quickly pulled out the… well to be honest, she wasn’t sure what it was. It was a small, heavy object with a winged headpiece made of amber attached to a small tapered brass handle with a small hoop fashioned to the end. It was too large and hefty to easily be a necklace pendant, and at one point, she had guessed it might be a piece off a gaudy chandelier, or maybe the weird hood ornament of some expensive car. For Rose, it was a childhood treasure she had inexplicably remained attached to, and somehow holding it gave her some semblance of comfort.

Letting the pendant spin between her thumb and fingers, she watched the light dance off it and let out a soft sigh. She hadn’t lied to Dezel about what she thought she saw. She was fairly certain she was awake through the whole thing, but it didn’t make sense. It felt like she had so clearly stared out her window at the beautiful white-haired woman in the vibrant red dress doing things that she was certain weren’t humanly possible.

“Maybe it’s stress,” she thought aloud to herself with a frown, watching the amber wings catch the light as the pendant spun in her hand, “maybe preparing to go to college has finally made me lose it…”

Another frustrated groan, and Rose shoved herself away from her desk and stumbled into her bed with a heavy thud. She clutched the pendant tightly, bringing it up to rest above her heart as she closed her eyes. For now all she could do was catch up on some much needed sleep. 

-

Crashing early had been a good call in the end, as it gave her the energy to book it out of her home at the last second, snagging the piece of toast her dad had left on the table for her. Tapping her trainer-clad toes against the entranceway floor for good measure, she started her trip to school with an easy jog to make up for a bit of lost time.

She doubted she was going to run into Dezel quite so early in the morning, which was fine. He’d probably still be miffed at her from summoning his cousin, and she anticipated some form of payback before his departure later that day. It was probably in her best interests to keep the peace.

Rose slowed down to a brisk walk, sliding her hand into the pocket of her jacket and feeling the familiar tapered brass handle of the pendant, now warmed slightly by her body heat. Unable to twirl it between her fingers in its confines, she resorted to simply running her thumb along the edge of an amber wing, quietly hoping that he’d accept it as a good luck charm for his trip and forget about one-upping her. Just to be safe, Rose made sure to make a quick stop by Eguille’s bakery, grabbing a couple fresh pastries and buns before continuing on her way.

As she neared the campus, she noticed a familiar figure trudging his way up the sidewalk in front of her. Rose frowned at the sight of Sorey’s tired form, torn between being miffed at him the day before and being rightfully concerned for his well being. Rose had known Sorey a long time, and she knew all too well that Sorey was the type to take on more responsibility than he should.The fact that he was startled by the tap on the shoulder only solidified her worries.

“Sorey?”

“Rose!” Sorey released what could only be described as a strained laugh mixed with a sigh of relief. There were dark bags under his eyes, his skin pallid and his hair unkempt. Rose cringed at the sight.

“Geez, dude… you look terrible. Should you be going to school today?” 

Sorey seemed startled by the question, only to laugh as he averted his gaze to the sidewalk in front of him. “Gosh, do I look that bad? I had a bit of a late night last night.”

"You look like you haven't slept at all," Rose admonished, "seriously, you should take the day off, you're not going to be productive in this state."

Sorey sighed, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck to massage it. "No can do, we have a student council meeting today, and Mikleo left early this morning for the archery tournament, so we're short staffed."

Rose blinked. "Sorry, what was that about Mikleo?"

"What, the archery tournament?" Sorey questioned with a frown. "Rose, you know he's on the team-"

"No, not that. Did you say he already left?"

"Yeah, the bus was scheduled to leave around…" he paused to glance at his watch, "half an hour ago."

"Fuck me!"

Sorey spun to look at her incredulously, but Rose paid no mind. So much for a truce before his departure. Glancing down at the paper bag still clutched in her fist, she sighed, begrudgingly raising it towards Sorey, who gave her a questioning glance.

“Seeing as Dezel’s long gone, and you look like shit today,” Rose explained with a huff, “I guess you can have this,” a pause, "it's from Eguille's."

Sorey was a naturally expressive person, almost to a fault, and despite his exhaustion, his eyes lit up with a mix of unabashed excitement and joy. "Rose…" he reached out with a tentative hand, taking the bag from her, "you're a saint! I love you so much right now!"

"Geez, don't let Mikleo hear you saying that," Rose joked as Sorey quickly opened the bag and shoved his hand inside, pulling out the still warm sweet bun and biting into it without so much as a second glance. "Sorey, did you even eat breakfast? What were you doing last night?"

The response was delayed as Sorey worked to swallow the far too large piece he'd bitten off. "Matcha?" He gestured with the bitten bun. "Is this a new flavour?"

Rose blinked, caught off guard by the change in subject. "Yeah… Dezel likes things slightly less sweet. I figured he'd like it." 

"He'll be back in two days," Sorey said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

-

The day passed slowly, dragging on longer than she could really stand. When the bell finally rang for lunch, Rose took her meal outside. Sorey had been called for another student council meeting, and without Dezel or Mikleo around, she found herself alone.

"I thought I had more friends than this," she muttered as she unceremoniously planted herself on a bench. At least she had her father's cooking to look forward to.

There was a buzzing sensation against her hip and Rose pulled out her phone to find a message from Mikleo. Surprised, though mildly disappointed it hadn't been Dezel, she opened it, snorting when she saw the haphazard selfie. Mikleo was in the foreground, his lower face cut out of frame as he flashed a peace sign. Dezel was behind him, his expression one of dawning realization that someone was snapping a photo, and he looked none too pleased about it.

"We just arrived," the text read. Rose couldn't stop grinning at it. Mikleo was a good friend: trustworthy, blunt, a solid voice of reason to the chaos that Rose, Sorey and Dezel caused. Mikleo wasn't the type to message often, so this came as a pleasant surprise.

She scrolled back up to admire the photo, then all at once the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. 

She was being watched, she realized.

At first glance she’d have guessed it was one of the gym teachers, but something about his face was wrong in a way she struggled to place. He stood eerily still, body not quite facing her with his head turned almost awkwardly in her direction, and even from this distance it felt like she could see his eyes so distinctly as they seemed to bore into her from across the field. Her mind immediately started recalling the news reports of the attacks as she gripped her phone tighter. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to get out of there, and so she did, gathering her untouched lunch and quickly making her way back inside. 

Much to her confusion, despite how quickly she wandered through the halls, the feeling of being watched did not cease. Even as the bell rang and students shuffled back into class, she found herself restless at her desk and unable to concentrate as the teacher droned on about their subject.

At long last, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. Rose groaned into her open notebook. "What's wrong with me?"

Sorey approached her desk, bag in hand. "Which of us didn't sleep last night exactly?" He asked with a frown. Rose peeled her face off of the pages to scowl.

"Definitely you," she closed her book, "you okay to walk home together?"

Sorey nodded, a smile managing to appear on his tired face. "Ready whenever you are-"

"Excuse me, Rose?"

The two paused and turned to the doorway, where a student stood, bag in hand. Rose struggled to place her, hazarding a guess that she was from another year.

"Mr. Strelka wants you to see him in his office," the girl said, and Rose frowned before giving a nod of acknowledgement, which seemed satisfactory for the girl, as she turned and walked away.

"That's strange," Sorey said as he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder, "Doesn’t he supervise the judo club today? Rose, did you get into more trouble?"

Rose stood with a huff. “Not that I’m aware of," she said with a frown, her brows coming together as she tried to think of what she could have possibly done for him to need to see her again. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

Sorey nodded. "Meet you out front?"

"Sure."

The two parted ways outside of the classroom, with Rose trudging up the stairs to the next floor. The upper floor of the building was quiet, with not a student in sight all the way up to Mr. Strelka’s office door. Raising a fist, she rapped her knuckles against the wood, but paused as she felt it shift- the door was left open a crack. 

"Hello? Mr. Strelka?" She pushed the door open with her hand and stepped across the threshold into the office, "you wanted to see me?" 

She was met with silence; a quick scan of the room revealed that her teacher wasn't around. Rose frowned. Mr. Strelka was nothing if not punctual, so his absence was one of two possibilities.

"So either he had an emergency…" she mused aloud, "... Or someone has pulled a fast one on me." 

A sudden soft chuckle erupted so close to her ear that she could feel the heat of their breath against the skin, and Rose once again felt the intense dread she had felt returning with full force. 

"My, what an astute observation."

The absolute shock of having a presence take up her personal space had propelled Rose across the office and behind Mr. Strelka’s desk. The man across the room let out an amused snort as she finally got a look at him. He was tall and lean, standing at least a head above her, his lanky features accentuated by the sandy blonde hair that tumbled down his back. His face was pointed and fox-like, with red markings helping to accentuate and exaggerate said features as he grinned wickedly with fanged teeth.

“My my, so skittish.” 

“What the hell?” Rose demanded, heart still stuck in her throat. The more she looked at him, the more she had the sinking sensation that she knew his face “Who are you?”

Another snort, and the man shifted his weight, cocking his head as he regarded her. “Nobody of consequence. We’ll be finished here quickly if you cooperate with me, and then I’ll be on my merry way.” The smirk slipped off his face. “I can sense the armatus on you. Hand it over.”

Rose stared back hard, utterly confused. This had to be some sort of elaborate prank, she had no other logical explanation for it. This had to be some elaborate gag by the drama club.

Maybe Dezel put them up to it-

“Did I stutter?”

He was in front of her. Right in front of her, with only the desk separating them now. Rose gaped up at him, her brain trying to process when exactly he had closed the distance between them so rapidly. She hadn’t so much as blinked. 

“Well?” he pressed. 

She could only stare up at him dumbly as she spoke: “What’s an armatus?”

This was apparently not the right response, because he turned, bringing his arm across his body to grip the edge of Mr. Strelka’s desk. He then spun, and the teacher’s desk crashed violently into the wall to her left. Wood split; the metal of filing cabinets shrieked as they bent under the force of the impact. Rose’s shock came out in a shriek as she stumbled backward a few steps until the wall met her back. 

“Are you going to continue playing dumb with me?” His voice was so strangely smooth for someone who had just tossed a couple hundred pounds of wood aside like cardboard. He took one, two, three steps forward, closing the distance between them. A hand shot out and gripped the front of her uniform, lifting her to eye-level so that her toes barely scraped the linoleum floor and their noses grazed one another. The warped grin was back. “I guess I’ll simply take it from you, then.” 

The grip holding her aloft was suddenly gone and Rose, not anticipating the fall, dropped. Her tailbone hit the linoleum floor hard. Cursing, she looked up at the fox-faced man questioningly. His grin had become playful.

“I’ve got time at least, and you’re not going anywhere. I may as well have some fun with this.” He leaned forward, his head hunching down to bring it close to hers yet again. 

“I suggest you start running.”

-

In the middle of letting his arrow fly, Dezel flinched. 

It was unlike him, and for a moment he blinked, then frowned as he realized that his score had been reduced by that errant twitch. His last arrow had just barely hit the target, embedded on the outer edge of the black ring.

Points were called, and he kneeled, his gaze unfocused and his brow pinched in confusion. That was unlike him. Even as the round concluded, and he retrieved his arrows, he realized that he struggled to become frustrated, realizing instead that instead the feeling that he was overwhelmed with was a looming sense of dread.

Something felt very wrong.


End file.
